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You probably haven't noticed them. But they've noticed you. They notice everything. That's their job. Sitting quietly in a nondescript car outside a bank making note of the tellers' work habits. Lagging a few car lengths behind the Brinks truck on its daily rounds. Surreptitiously jiggling the handle of an unmarked service door at the racetrack. They're heisters.

The Damsel: Alan Grofield, Book 1

The Damsel begins directly after the Parker novel The Handle. Following a wounded Grofield and his damsel on a scenic, action-packed road trip from Mexico City to Acapulco, The Damsel is full of wit, adrenaline, and political intrigue.

The Deep Blue Good-By: A Travis McGee Novel, Book 1

He's a self-described beach bum who won his houseboat in a card game. He's also a knight errant who's wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages, and television. He only works when his cash runs out, and his rule is simple: he'll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half.

Christine

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Slam the Big Door: A Novel

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Publisher's Summary

Baron is clever - perhaps too clever. He sits on the heavily protected island of Cockaigne, a mini-Las Vegas forty miles out in the Gulf of Mexico, raking in as much as $250,000 some nights, laughing at the Outfit, who can’t collect their cut. Now the Outfit can no longer stand the loss of face - not to mention the loss of revenue. That’s why they’ve sent for Parker, who knows that the line between success and failure on this score would be exactly the length of the barrel of a .38. Double-crosses and double-dealings from the word go, not to mention the arrival of Parker’s flamboyant friend Grofield, make this one of Richard Stark’s best.

The Handle starts great but a lull a third of the way in made me worry about the end. I had no need for concern, this is another brilliant Westlake ending. The Handle is a lot of fun. I've got to get to the next book asap.

Several times I laughed or enjoyed something surprising or unexpected. Parker is on a job. Things go wrong. How he and his partners respond is neat to watch.

A fun scene: The Outfit assigned Crystal to help Parker with part of the job. They were on a boat going to an island. She talked too much. Parker discovered the way to handle her. When she paused he grunted. She turned his grunts into whatever words she wanted to hear and went on with her monologue again. She’s deathly afraid of water. She asked Parker “If this boat sinks or anything you won’t leave me or anything will you? You’ll help me get to shore?” If the boat sank Parker knew this girl would be hysterical and would drown with her anyone she could get her hands on. If the boat sank, Parker would get as far from her as he could as fast as possible. But he said “I’ll help you. Don’t worry about it.”

The narrator Stephen R. Thorne was good, but I wish he had a rougher or more gravely voice for Parker. His Parker voice was too clean cut and normal sounding.

THE SERIES:This is book 8 in the 24 book series. It’s about half the length of a typical novel. If you are new to the series, I suggest reading the first three, and then pick and choose among the rest. I prefer reading them in order since there is a flow, and some books have spoilers about prior books. These stories are about bad guys. They rob. They kill. They don’t go to jail. They’re smart. Parker is the main bad guy, a brilliant strategist. He partners with different guys for different jobs in each book.

The first three books in order are: The Hunter (Point Blank movie with Lee Marvin 1967) (Payback movie with Mel Gibson), The Man with the Getaway Face (The Steel Hit), The Outfit.